My name is Kree Keltner and I go to Eagle Rock High School in Los Angeles, California. I have recently been accepted into the NYT Summer Academy, a pre-college journalism program that takes place over the course of two weeks at the NYU campus in New York. Unfortunately, the program is quite a pricey sum for my family, and I hope to raise money through this GoFundMe page. Any amount would help immensely, and I would be so grateful for anyone willing to donate. Thank you so much!
If you would be interested in reading my work, here is my application to the academy:
Ever since I was in the first grade, my ability to write an immersive story has been critically acclaimed. You may be asking, by whom? Well, the spectacular part of being a critic is it requires only one trait, skepticism. And lucky for me, skepticism was already a predominant attribute in my disposition. My first-grade self was not afraid to claim the title of “critic.” While others found me to be overly opinionated and likely quite exasperating, I interpreted my spunky personality as something absolutely golden. I was constantly lost in inquiry about the seemingly unimportant quirks of my surroundings. Ready to strike up a discourse at any given moment, I first used my acute observations to become a visual artist (something I still practice to this day through oil painting and photography). In second grade, we started our unit on argumentative writing, and I saw this as the perfect opportunity to exploit the unit and meticulously craft the most excellent three pages of opinion writing an eight-year-old could possibly craft. I describe my attention to detail in this unit like the keys on a piano. My peers were hitting every white key, moving from the lowest octave to the highest. I made it apparent to my teachers that I would skip no steps. Not only would I hit every white key, I would also play the black keys. I would play from high to low, low to high, learn every chord progression, and every melody of this metaphorical piano.
The essay was two weeks late, but my intentions were right on the money.
It was in fifth grade when my parents made the mistake of introducing a delusionally confident and slightly pretentious eleven-year-old to the vast world of 70s rock-n-roll. This is when I became a music critic. It was with this infatuation with the genre that I uncovered Rolling Stone magazine. I followed this magazine religiously, and it ultimately prompted my decision to pursue screenwriting. I thought, what's better than a music review? Obviously, a music documentary! Due to this lifelong adoration for writing, I hope to be admitted into the NYC Summer Academy. This is an exemplary prospect to expand my knowledge base and mold myself into the best writer and storyteller I can be. I would use this opportunity to learn how to translate my vivid absorption of my environment into an equally vivid display of words and photographs and hope to surround myself with intellectually challenging people and grow from the ideas and innovations of my peers. Not only will I figuratively explore the minds of my community, but I will physically enjoy dissecting the diverse and cultured city of New York to sculpt my inspirations into a cohesive representation of my abilities.